We tipped the concept of master planning on end and came up with a very different kind of community that's both exciting and good for the human spirit. Welcome to DC Ranch, where instead of starting big with custom homesites and a golf course, we started creating at the most personal and important place -- the neighborhood.

A neighborhood at DC Ranch consists of a relatively small number of homes in areas that inhabit their own distinctive niches in the community. Each DC Ranch neighborhood is just the right size so you feel you're a part of something, not overwhelmed by it.

Grass parks within the neighborhood provide a place where the kids (and you) can kick the soccer ball around and play catch.

Homes are planned with front porches and courtyards where neighbors can actually gather and get to know each other. Nothing at all is lined up in a row. And almost every homesite borders natural open space or desert.

Neighborhoods are the heart of DC Ranch. Within them, streets meander, desert trees line the way, the homes have individual character, and side entries reduce the visual dominance of garage doors.

Right out in front of your home, this combination of winding streets, unique home designs, and front porches and courtyards helps create a genuine sense of community. DC Ranch neighborhoods bring back the times when people actually knew their neighbors. It's the kind of place that's been missing in Arizona, but not anymore.

To get things right in a community like this, you can't plan from an office. That's why we watched the sun rise and set countless times at DC Ranch. We sat on rocks and observed hawks observing us. We listened to the powerful quietness of it all. We walked nearly every inch of the land here.

Our challenge then was how to integrate such a gift of nature with a residential community.

The answer was to incorporate open space into our neighborhoods. Most residential homesites border desert or naturally landscaped open space. Nature isn't fenced off from you, rather it's a continuation of the daily lifestyle at DC Ranch.

Of course, the setting for all of this has to be something special itself. And it is.

DC Ranch encompasses 8,281 acres, 3,700 acres of developable land with the balance being incorporated into the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Because the site is so spectacular and so important to your everyday enjoyment of life, we've worked to protect the natural environment in the most sensitive and vital ways. Furthermore, miles of paths and trails connect you to the mountains' wilderness areas. Just minutes from your home, you're in the middle of another world -- the very soul of Arizona.

In fact, there are four significant vegetation zones at DC Ranch rising from the desert floor to about 4,000 feet above sea level: lower desert, upper desert, grassland/chaparral and riparian.

There's also a strong sense of the past here as the historical landmarks at DC Ranch -- ancient petroglyphs, old gold mines and cowboy trails -- are part of the property's legacy. We've worked to reflect that character with the use of split-rail fences, natural rock fences and other thematic materials.

And if you require an occasional dose of urban living, there's great accessibility to downtown Scottsdale and the rest of the Valley, particularly via the Pima Freeway extension now under construction.

Clearly the views at DC Ranch are magnificent, whether you're on your patio or at the top of one of the mountain peaks. It's not just part of the plan. It is the plan.

At DC Ranch, there is a real difference and it's as basic as providing an environment in which neighborhoods, and people, can flourish.

DC Ranch as a whole will enhance the spirit of friendliness and being connected to something special.

All your basic needs are provided for within the community. There are plans for a school campus that's part of the Scottsdale School District, as well as retail and business offices, medical buildings, places of worship and parks.

We also believe strongly in lifelong learning. Our hope is to create the opportunity for such learning by building alliances within the community with local colleges, museums and research facilities.

A city of Scottsdale police station, Rural/Metro fire station and private community patrol are located at DC Ranch to enhance safety.

DC Ranch is literally connected by miles of paths and trails that take you anywhere on the Ranch -- up into the McDowell Mountains' wilderness areas, or down to the future Town Center -- all without having to drive your car. Kids will be able to ride their bikes to friends' houses or the grocery store without ever having to cross a major street.

While hiking and biking are two of the most prevalent ways to enjoy DC Ranch, there is also a community center, Desert Camp, where you can swim and play tennis, scare up a game of basketball or volleyball and work out in the fitness center. Staff members will help coordinate all of these activities, including a recreational program and kids program.

Our attention to detail includes your virtual environment as well. Every resident at DC Ranch will have access to RanchNet®, a high-speed Intranet providing you with opportunities to interact with your neighbors and the world.

At DC Ranch, every detail has been considered to make everyday living truly exceptional.

Before we began even the most basic planning of DC Ranch, we spent years traveling around the country to study notable communities, both old and new. We wanted to see firsthand what makes a community strong and livable, what nurtures real neighborhoods and true neighbors.

What wasn't working, we found, was the straight-street, cookie-cutter, everybody-fenced-off-from-each-other way of doing things -- the kind of community that seems to dominate the Arizona landscape.

At DC Ranch, we've created a new kind of master plan that finally allows you to enjoy the best of all worlds: an environment that nurtures a real sense of neighborhood, and neighborhoods that are not separate from our magnificent Sonoran Desert environment.

Our master plan is based on the simple fact that rigidity does not invite friendliness. That's why we threw out the usual grid system, and worked to create an atmosphere that entices you to get to know the people and landscape around you.

These and all other land planning concepts that have shaped the vision of DC Ranch were formed as we worked with Vern Swaback, one of the Southwest's most highly respected land planners. The plan for DC Ranch is a living, evolving thing, continually in search of better ways to make this community more beautiful, more livable and more harmoniously linked to the Sonoran Desert.

The Sonoran Desert is a quiet place; its architecture should be subtle. Our architectural guidelines are built on this principle, and the philosophy that the best designs start with an appreciation for what already exists in nature.

No two homes of the same design can be placed next to each other -- like in the wonderful old neighborhoods where every house and every street was definitely its own.

Setbacks vary. Homes are positioned for their sites rather than being lined up in a row. That gives us the opportunity to allow nearly every homesite to border natural open space or desert. You're not fenced off from nature, it's part of your everyday life.

The plan doesn't stop there. Technology is the backbone of DC Ranch. Through our association with Qwest, we are able to provide the infrastructure that allows DC Ranch to be Arizona's first telecommunity.

Our association with Scottsdale Healthcare provides health, wellness and medical services to the community and includes state-of-the-art healthcare right at DC Ranch.

Our attention to detail includes your virtual environment as well. Every resident at DC Ranch will have access to RanchNet®, a high-speed Intranet providing you with opportunities to interact with your neighbors and the world.

We've thought of everything at DC Ranch. Finally, a place in Arizona where you can feel at home, and a home you'll love.

We spent years researching and visiting communities across America before we began planning DC Ranch. We gave the same attention to selecting our builders. The result is The DC Ranch Collection of Homes, offered by some of the Southwest's most highly-regarded builders.

The builders, Camelot Homes, Columbia Communities, Geoffrey H. Edmunds, Monterey Homes, P.B. Bell and Standard Pacific Homes have designed homes exclusively for DC Ranch, homes not found anywhere else in the Valley. And, no two homes of the same design can be placed next to each other -- like in the wonderful old neighborhoods where every house and every street was definitely its own.

The homes at DC Ranch feature a rare level of "finish" in the Valley. The builders have created exceptional designs that provide for character on all four sides. The homes are built with extraordinary quality using materials and colors that echo and harmonize with the DC Ranch landscape.

DC Ranch homes will be connected by fiber-optic pathways bringing to your neighborhood sophisticated high-speed data services, superior-quality voice and video services, and the first high-quality digital television service in Arizona.

If you'd like to build a custom home at DC Ranch, homesites are available in the gated Country Club Community. An extremely prestigious collection of custom home builders has been chosen to assist you in designing and building the home of your dreams.

Below are the current homes for sale in the DC Ranch community. Call or Email Lou Vetter for more information or a private showing of any of these wonderful properties.

DC Ranch Re-Sale Homes:

 

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